Turkey's independent media on alert over stance of tech giants

International report

As Turkey slipped further down in the latest Press Freedom Index, the country's besieged opposition and independent media are voicing concerns that some of the tech giants are increasingly complicit in government efforts to silence them.

While protests continue over the jailing of the Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, his account on social media platform X has been cancelled.

X, formerly Twitter, claims it was in response to a Turkish court order. Dozens of Imamoglu supporters have also had their accounts suspended, drawing widespread condemnation.

The controversy is stoking broader concerns over the stance of the world's tech giants towards Turkey.

"These international tech companies find it well to keep good relations with the Turkish authorities because their only evaluation is not just on the side of democratic standards," said Erol Onderoglu of the Paris-based Reporters without Borders.

"But there is another challenge which is based on financial profit. The country's advertising market is very vibrant regarding social media participation," he added.

Google is also facing criticism. The US tech giant was recently accused of changing its algorithms, resulting in a collapse in people accessing the websites of Turkey's independent media and therefore depriving the companies of vital advertising revenue.

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Fewer alternative voices

Until now, the internet has provided a platform for alternative voices to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who controls around 90 percent of the mainstream media.

"Google has a very big effect when you search the web for news, the most visible ones are always from pro-government media or state media. But the omission of independent media from results is just a mystery right now," said Volga Koscuoglu, editor-in-chief of the independent news portal Bianet.

Turkey's independent media is battling arrests and fines by the Turkish authorities. Reporters Without Borders' latest index on press freedom saw Turkey slip further down the rankings to 159 out of 180 countries.

Koscuoglu fears the government is seeking to extend its control over the media to the internet.

"We don't know whether there was any political pressure as no reports have been made about that," said Koscuoglu. "But the government has passed several laws in recent years and those were aimed to bring large social media under control in Turkey.

"You wouldn't expect Google to be excluded from this control; so yes, there could be political influence on that decision."

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Threat to reduce bandwidth

Duvar, one of Turkey's largest and most prominent independent news portals, closed its doors in March, citing a loss of revenue following the collapse in internet hits, which it blamed on Google's change to algorithms.

Google was approached to comment on the accusations but did not reply.

However, a spokesperson speaking anonymously to Reuters news agency said that any algorithm changes were simply aimed at enhancing the search facility.

Internet experts believe the Turkish government has controlled the world's tech giants by making them liable to Turkish law.

"The government, in addition to warnings, financial penalties and an advertisement ban, was going to impose a bandwidth restriction," said Yaman Akdeniz, a co-founder of Turkey's Freedom of Expression Association.

"The government was going to throttle the social media platforms that didn't comply...up to 50 percent of their bandwidth access was going to be reduced, and that was going up to 90 percent of their bandwidth being restricted from Turkey.

"Social media providers didn't want to risk that," he concluded.

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'Extinction of pluralism'

With some of Turkey's independent media organisations claiming their web activity has dropped by as much as 90 percent in the past few months, many are struggling to survive and are laying off journalists.

The experience of Turkey could well be the canary in the mine.

Onderoglu of Reporters Without Borders claims the plurality of the media is at stake.

"Extinction of pluralism within the media, which means that you'll have just one echo from a country which is the official line, is extremely dangerous," he warned.

"This is the main concern not only in Turkey but in dozens of countries around the world," he added.

"Journalists are trying to make viable another view within society, another approach from the official one."

Questions over Google's power as effective gatekeeper to the internet and what critics claim is the lack of transparency over the search engine's algorithms are likely to grow.

Meanwhile, the algorithm changes leave Turkey's besieged independent media, already battling arrests and fines, fighting for financial survival.